In the Spring of 1846, a group of intrepid pioneers set out from Independence, Missouri, to cross the Oregon Trail to seek a better life in the fertile Oregon Territory. However, almost nothing went according to plan for this group. They got a late start, took a devastating wrong turn, and were delayed by many …
Podcast Transcript For about a month, from the end of November to the end of December, every year, one of the most popular animals in North America is the turkey. Turkeys are the traditional meal served at Thanksgiving and Christmas. However, it is a tradition that is found almost nowhere else in the world. This …
Podcast Transcript When the United States became independent in the late 18th century, it didn’t have much of a foreign policy. Their primary concern was creating the framework of a country that hadn’t existed before. However, after a few decades, the United States grew in confidence and eventually asserted its own unique foreign policy objectives. …
Podcast Transcript Since the dawn of human history, humans have been aware of a seemingly miraculous substance. It was a substance that had the same color as silver, but unlike silver, it wasn’t a solid. It was a liquid. Ancient people used this substance as a medicine and as an elixir for long life, something …
Podcast Transcript For centuries, the Roman Republic and the Roman Empire were able to conquer and force their will on other people around the Mediterranean Sea. The success of Rome was built on its army, and its army was able to sustain its dominance for so long because of its system of superior organization and …
Podcast Transcript Centuries ago, someone decided jumping from a great height and trying to land without being injured would be a good idea. …and in a few cases, it actually worked….although in many more cases, it didn’t. Once humans actually figured out how to fly, they realized that there might be an actual use for …
Podcast Transcript There is a good chance that sometime in the last few days, weeks, or months, you might have enjoyed a slice or two of pizza. Pizza has become a near-ubiquitous food which can be found in almost every country. However, there is no one pizza. There are vehement disagreements about what pizza is …
Podcast Transcript In a previous episode, I went through a list of eponymous laws. These were laws, general rules, or sometimes even scientific laws that were named after people. However, the eponymous laws I went through only scratched the surface of the eponymous Laws that are out there. There are all sorts of laws, rules, …
Podcast Transcript On October 15, 1991, a cosmic ray detector in Utah observed something that had never been seen before or since. It was a cosmic ray with more energy than anything ever observed and more energy than most scientists thought possible. When one of the first researchers saw the data, they responded simply, “Oh, …